(Lane) Kiffin Named (Raiders) Head Coach

Raiders.com ^ | 22 Jan 2007 | A Man On A Puppet String Controlled by the Al Davis Cabal

[GOP_Raider]

Lane Kiffin will be formally introduced as Head Coach of The Oakland Raiders during a press conference on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 at 1:00 p.m. at the Raiders' facility in Alameda. With his appointment today by Raiders owner Al Davis, Kiffin becomes the 16th head coach in franchise history and the youngest head coach in the NFL. The 31-year old Kiffin is also the youngest Head Coach in Raider history. Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach John Madden was 32 when he was elevated to the head post by Davis in 1969.

Most recently, Kiffin presided over the vaunted offensive attack at the University of Southern California that a featured long, medium and short-range passing game coupled with a power running attack. His tutoring helped the Trojans capture back-to-back National College Football Championships in 2003 and 2004.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Evidently Raider fans will have to endure another year of the rest of the league's fans condescendingly looking down their collective noses at us.

Well, as long as the fans mix Star Wars costumes with cardboard spikes and oh so fearsome silver spray-painted paper mache chains...

[Richard Kimball]

That's kind of sad. Al Davis is a true legend of the game, and a natural born outlaw. I think the game has passed him by, but he's one of the great ones.

[Cyropaedia]

There's a sucker born every minute. Coaching for Al Davis is the last job you'd want in football at any level.

[Txsleuth]

LOL...are the Cowboys???

[GOP_Raider]

Oddly enough, a really good friend of mine who lurks around here is a Raider season ticket/PSL holder and has a costume that's part Wonder Woman, part KISS face paint, part Batman cape.

I've considered doing something similar, but with my Caucasian-ness I'm not sure if going as the main character in the movie "Powder" would be such a good idea.

[Buckhead]

You're killing me.

[stainlessbanner]

Sounds like the Raiders need experienced leadership to make a turnaround.

[neverhillorat]

Kiffen is a very good coach, two National Championships, two Heisman winning QB`s. Might want to ask Michigan if he can coach. Now, if only we can get Al Davis to retire.

[My2Cents]

Most recently, Kiffin presided over the vaunted offensive attack at the University of Southern California

Unfortunately, the Raiders don't have the offensive talent of USC. ;-)

[My2Cents]

If I hadn't seen that album cover before, I would have thought you Photoshopped it! LOL

[GOP_Raider]

Well, I suppose this is the best head coaching opportunity in the NFL, if you look at it from the perspective of "buy low, sell high." Very low.

True, however, this is, as the kids say, "how we roll"--i.e.: hiring young coaches w/ little to no NFL experience. Madden, Shanahan, Gruden, and Flores were all under the age of 40.

Bill Walsh had a very telling comment about Mr. Davis many years ago when he said "I never understood why he got out of coaching." I kind of wonder that myself for a long time.

BTW, the 'Fins got a good one in Cam Cameron, methinks.

[Cyropaedia]

You know that Bill Walsh spent one year as an assistant under Al Davis with the Raiders in the old AFL (1966). He has said that that he probably acquired more knowledge about pro football in that one season with the Raiders than with all of his other years in the pros combined. Contrary to their image of being outlaws, misfits and renegades, the Raiders were very advanced in their schemes, tactics and offensive strategies. Off the field the Al Davis showed Walsh how one man should be run an organization from the top down. That's why when he was named head coach of the Niners he insisted that DeBartalo give the titles of Team President and General Manager as well.

[My2Cents]

Now, if only we can get Al Davis to retire.

There you go. I've been saying for years that the Raiders will never be competitive again until Al Davis steps away, or is carried away.

[Richard Kimball]

I think the Cardinals job could be sweet right now, as a lot of the pieces are in place. The Raiders are a rebuild from ground zero, and you have the problem of several high-priced, non-motivated players that know they can't be cut because the team couldn't handle the salary cap problems.

Although they fell short of the Super Bowl this year, I think the Patriots have the right idea. They get good players of character and pay them well, but they don't get in cap trouble by keeping players that are demanding huge paydays. They made an exception with Brady, but there are a few players out there worth the huge money, and Brady is one of them.

[neverhillorat]

The Raiders don`t have the talent USC has nor the payroll. Just kidding, I think.

[montag813]

Lane Kiffin

That is not a football name! Might as well be Artie Fufkin!

"Go ahead...kick my ass...kick it"

[GOP_Raider]

That's quite a porn-stache...and forehead.

[misterrob]

I thought Norm Chow was the OC when they were doing title games

[dc-zoo]

You can say that again.

[GOP_Raider]

RE: Al, I thought I'd share a brief anecdote.

My grandfather and Mr. Davis are roughly the same age--late 70s. Well, grandpa still has some blue chip stocks in some of his old mutual funds and every day he waits for the local noon news to give the stock report, and sure enough, every day around 12:20, I hear "Micron's up!" "Wal-Mart's up!"

Curious about this, I asked him one day, "you know you can get real time quotes for free online, right?" In response he says to me "I don't know how that cotton-pickin' thing works, I couldn't even turn it on."

So I thought about how set in his ways my grandpa is and thought, "you know, both of them have lead very full and interesting lives, but maybe being set in one's ways is counterproductive, especially in football."

Of course you could be like my grandmother, who think both of them are full of...well, things I can't say on this fine forum.